Transfer mechanism



P. ARNOLD TRANSFER MECHANISM 'March l1,l |1958 4 sheets-sheet l1 'vFiled Deo. 17, 1956 Unir-ln.

ATTO RN EY March 11, 1958 P, ARNOLD 2,826,292

TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed Deo. 17, 195s sheets-sheet 2 FIG. 2

ATTORNEY( 4- March 1-1, 1958 P. ARNOLD 2,826,292

TRANSFER MEGHANISM Filed Dec. 17, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 3

INVENTOR ATTORNEY( Marchl 1,- 1958 P. ARNOLD 2,826,292

TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed Dec. 1'?, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. 5

- 22@- ,g2g-:buffa Qu mi z ATTORNEYS Unite,

.rrRA-NSFER MncHANIsM laims (ci.A 19.8.1171) This 1 inventiony relatesto transfer f mechanisms for-fuse in connection with conveying systemsfor removing article-carriers from one conveyor,andtfdeliveringthem -toanother. -More particularly, @the J invention gis-concerned with A anovel -Ymechanism f for automatically transferring article Y`carriersbetween a-pair of conveyors operating step-wise tinp'htimed relationwith Jthe carriersadvanced` in double-411e -on one conveyor and intsingle-le oir-the other. 'Thenew-transfer mechanism can be employed formany purposes and is especially adapted -for transferring articlecarriers between the conveyor 4of aprocessing machine, `in which `the'articles rare subjected to -`various treatments, and a planta conveyor,which the v carriers loaded s with `raw `"work are -delivered to the ivicinity of the-processingamachine and-the carriers `with processedarticles -are -taken away. Typical processing machines, with Awhichthertransfermechanism may be used, 'include those for electropiat-i-ng,fheat t1jeatme nt, -anod-izing, etc., aIlSLsince allthe advantages ofthe iznventiorrare real-ized in its vuse-with electroplating-machinesfagform of lthe transfer mechanismfor that application will beillustrated and ldescribediin detail Lfor purposes -o-f-explanation.

Electroplating machines l include a l plurality -of tanks containingsolutions for preliminary =t`reatnie`nts, `ysuch was cleaning, etching,etc., ouefor moreplatingtanks,and-a number of tanks for' `finishing`treatments, -suh as Lhot and'reclaim rinsing. The article Vcarriers aremovedpalong the-tanks by a conveyor operati-ng Astepwise and thliecarriers are raised-out ofgeach-ta'nk andloweredintothe next by-anelevator. `One'form ofiplati-,ng -rnachine conveyor in common use hasarms, which-project over the tanks .Sit-ares Patent and cawbenrrmaised-and lowereudfrelative'to the remainder ofthe conveyor. `The articlecarriersare lsuspendedifrom the'sanns and, when; the nature of -t-he-articles permits,- two ca rriersarehung on each arm, so that thecarersadvance-through-the machine in double'tile.

The `-plant conveyor delivering Athe carriers -vvith Araw worlot the-station-where they are jloaded ,upon-the plating machine conveyor,-andgremoving the carriers with finished Yarticles-'fromthevstationwhere `they are unloaded from the machine conveyor,operates'injtimedmelation-to the machine conveyor and ordinarily-carries`the carriers in-single f-le. `flhe=-loading a nd--unloading Astationsfori/thev machine conveyor are usuallyA adjacent and, `at each station,atranspfer mechanism i-s Ycommonly employed for transferring `thecarriers =b`etween Ithe `conveyors.

"The presentinvention isdirected to -therprovision of 1v-transferYmechanism functioning 4automatically to transfer articlec-ar-riersbetween'a pair ofconveyor-s operating stepfwisefin-timedrelatiqn andV advancing'the carriers in doubletiile and singlefile, respectively. VThe mechanism is especially adapted for handlingheavy loads and it effects the'transfer thereof in a short'timeinterval. When used ubetween a plant conveyor and a machine conveyor,the mechanisinis preferably constructed to function as aloader-unloader, which removes carriers o f raw Work from the planeconveyor and loads `them upon the machine conveyor and simultaneouslyunloads carriers of l 2,826,292 f-RatehftedMon .1.1, 958

...ICC

finished articles fromnthe machine conveyor andsidelivers themstmtheplantfconveyor. I-rranfonn suitableforxuse as :,a loaderfunloaden'themechanism includes four carriagesnnovable alongttrackstextendingfbetween respective stationsvr-onxthe two.: conveyorsviwith :the tracks. al1 A.terminating :in :the same.` relation ton/therplant conveyor. iF-Ille inner Atracks `then :extend farther :beneath themachine conveyon than the outer .tracks,vso that: the outer carriagesmayrdeliverfcarriers atorandvremove Lthem ifrom `the louter sections :ofthe machine.:conveyor arms, while/.the inner carriages isupplytcarrierseto and ffremovethem `from -`the inner` sections ofrthe arms.

i Fori-ainbetter understanding` o'ithel invention, :referencemayfbenmadeto: the accompanyingdrawingspin .which is.1a viewfshowing1oneformrof the transfer mechanism in side .f elevation .and 'installedbetweena plant conveyor and a -plating machineconveyor shown insection.i i

flig. l-ltznisfaview'iinV5 front elevation .of-a` trolley of the pla-nt:conveyorxwith an article carrier suspended -therefrom;

i`1Fig.- `2 is ia planview-of 'the transfermechanismv shown in1Fig. l-;

' F-ig.13-lis aviewin sideelevation on `an-enlarged scale andl withparts ibroken away of one carriage ofthe mechanisrn; v

Fig-f4 is a view indend elevation on an -enlarged scale and with partsbrokenaway -ofonefof-the carriages -with 'The transfer mechanismillustrated is a loader-unloader, which 4is-disposed` between aplantconveyor, generally Adesignated 1 1), vand lthe conveyor of anelectroplati-n'g rriachine, which isjindicated at'l'l.

"lheiplant conveyor 1:0is ofthe monorailtype and its rail *is fa -beam12 suspended by hangers 13 from an overhead structure. `The ,conveyoryincludes Va chain `14, along Vwhich are mounted'trolleys L'1,5orvhooksfor article carriers, l*generally designated =1`6, and eachtrolley has rollers"17 at itsiupper end, which rest upon the loweriiange of beami `1'2 on opposite sides of the web of the beam and,atits:lower end, 'the trolleygh-as aframe 18, from which a `carrier canbe suspended. VForthis purposethe carrier has spaced hooks 19 atits.upper end and each hookhas atailla adapted "to rest upon an end section18a of franiei18g-a forwardk end'l9badapted to rest upon` afpart o f themachine conveyor, and an outward extension 1j9c .engageable from beneathby means onthe transfermechsuisnifhs Plating machine is ,illustratedaslinclvuidng a. frame hsvipsdlpfsht .structural members 2,0 and aconveyor movable iis sideways Qn the gfrarnerand ,made up `.of upper`,and lowerA chains 21, of which onlythe Vlower chain is shown. TheChains aretrained about sprocket wheels 2 2 and are connected atintervalsbywpairs of vertical Channel membsrrs 23 f orminssuidewaysforcanines 24 having arms 25 which .are formedby ,'Ibeams andesfsad'outwardly above the tanks .indicated at 26. The carriages. 24 arerrovidedwith ,pick-11p .rollers 27 enga-geable by an angle iron'28 onthebeam `29,of anrelevator structure, which is ,operable toraise andlowerthe carriaiges in v their guides. 23 ,to lift the article carriers outof and ylower them into the tanks. iEach conveyorarm 25 is provided withapair of cross-bars .3.0, on which respect-ive carriers 16 may bemounted with the forward ends 12b oftheir hooks 19 overlying the ends ofthe cross-bars. 'Each cross-bar isformed with upward projections'30aadjacent its ends `to center the carrier jhook-s for transfer andprevent the carrier hooks from shifting and possibly becoming dislodgedfrom the cross-bar.

assegna The plant and plating machine conveyors move stepwise in timedrelation in opposite directions and, when the plating machine conveyorcomes to rest, article carriers on certain of the arms 25 thereof liecentered above tanks 26. Each such stopping point of an arm on theplating machine conveyor may be referred to as a station and, in eachstep' of the movement of that conveyor, the arms advance by one station.The trolleys on the plant conveyor are spaced a distance approximatelyequal to the distance between the arms on the machine conveyor and thespacing between stations of the plant conveyor is approximately the sameas the spacing between stations on the machine conveyor. However, ineach step in the movement of the plant conveyor, the trolleys areadvanced by two stations.

The transfer mechanism includes a base made up of four sections 31u,31h, 31C, and 31d and each section is formed of an assembly ofstructural members including channel members 32 extending lengthwise ofthe base and carrying smaller channel members 33, which face each otherand form a track. The ends of the sections of the base and of the tracksthereon adjacent the plant conveyor lie in alignment, but the inner`sections 31b, 31e of the base and the tracks thereon are longer thanthe outer sections Bla, 31d and their tracks. The tracks extend betweenstations on the two conveyors and the mechanism illustrated is for usewith conveyors, in which the spacing between the machine conveyorstations is slightly greater than that between the plant conveyorstations. Accordingly, while sections 31b, 31e lie approximatelyparallel, the outer sections 31a, 31d diverge slightly toward themachine conveyor.

Carriages designated 34a, 34b, 34C, 34d are mounted on respectivesections of the base and each carriage includes a base structure made upof upper and lower horizontal frames 3,5, 36 formed of structuralmembers suitably secured together. A plurality of brackets 37 attachedto and extending downward from the lower frames 36 carry rollers 38entering the channels of track members 33 with certain of the rollersbearing against the lower flanges and others against the upper flangesof the channel members. A platform 39 is mounted to extend from front torear of the lower frame 36 and a motor 4t) is mounted on the platform.The shaft of the motor is connected through an electromagneticclutchworkpiece carrier 16 between them and, at its upper ends,

cach frame carries a shaft 48 running in bearings 49, 50 mounted inhousings 51, 52, respectively. Between the bearings, each shaft 43carries a sprocket wheel 53 and, `at its inner end beyond collar 50,each shaft carries a disc 54 provided with an eccentric pin 55. Thespacing between the inner ends of the pins on the discs 54 on a carriageis lsuch that the pins may engage the outward extensions 19C on thehooks 19 on a workpiece carrier. Each sprocket wheel 53 on a standard ofa carriage is connected to a sprocket wheel 56 on the shaft 44 of thecarriage by a chain 57 extending through one of the members of thestandard and engaging idler sprocket wheels S3, 59 near opposite ends ofthe member.

A shaft 6i) is mounted in bearings in blocks 61 secured to the ends ofthe sections of the base and, since the sections 31a, 31d in themechanism illustrated are slightly divergent in relation to sections3lb, 31e, the shaft is made in sections connected by couplings 62. Theshaft carries a sprocket wheel 63 connected by a chain 64 to thesprocket "wheel 65 on the shaft of a motor 66.

Opposite the sections of the base, the shaft 60 carries sprocket wheels66a, 66b, 66e, 66d and the sprocket wheels 66a, 66d are smaller than thesprocket wheels 66h, 66C. A shaft 67 is mounted in bearings in blocks 68on the end of base section 31a remote from shaft 60, 'and the shaft 67carries a sprocket wheel 69a of the same vsize as the sprocket wheel66a. A shaft 7() is mounted in bearings in blocks 71 attached to therespective ends of base sections 31h, 31C remote from shaft 60 and shaft70 vcarries sprocket wheels 69b, 69C aligned with and of the same sizeas sprocket wheels 66b, 66e, respectively. A shaft 72 is mounted inbearings in blocks 73 attached to the end of base section 31d remotefrom shaft 60 and carries a sprocket wheel 69d aligned with and of thesame size as sprocket 'wheel 66d. Each carriage is provided with spacedbrackets 74 depending from its under surface and a chain is connected atits ends to the brackets and trained about the sprocket wheels of the 66and 69 series, the chains being designated 75a, 75b, 75e, and 75d,respectively.

`In describing the operation of the transfer mechanism, it will beassumed that the plant and machine conveyors, as seen in Fig. 1, advancetoward and away from the observer, respectively. The conveyors move inalternation and, in each movement of the plant conveyor, each trolleythereon advances two stations, while, in each movement of the machineconveyor, each arm on the conveyor advances one station.

In the rst stage in the cycle of operations of the mechanism, thecarriages start to move away from the plant conveyor with carriages 34a,34b loaded with carriers of raw work taken from `adjacent trolleys onthe conveyor and carriages 34e, 34d empty. After the carriages havecleared the plant conveyor, that conveyor starts to advance and, duringits movement, the carriages complete their movement to the machineconveyor and the carriers on carriages 34a, 34b are deposited oncrossbars 30 on adjacent arms on the machine conveyor. The movement ofthe plant conveyor, while the carriages are approaching the machineconveyor, causes empty trolleys on the plant conveyor to be placed inalignment with carriages 34e yand 34d, while full trolleys are movedinto alignment with carriages 34a, 34b.

In the movement of the carriages toward the machine conveyor by therotation of shaft 60, the carriages 34a and 34d move at the same rate,since the sprocket wheels 66a, 69a, about which chain 75a of carriage34a is trained, and the sprocket wheels 66d, 69d, about which the chain75d of carriage 34d is trained, are of the same size. The sprocketwheels 66b, 69b and 66e, 69e, about which the chains 75b and 75e ofcarriages 34b and 34e, respectively, are trained, are larger thansprocket wheels 66a, etc., and, as a result, the carriages 34b and 34emove faster than carriages 34a, 34d. Also, when the shaft is stoppedwith the tops of the A-frames on carriages 34a, 34d lying close to theouter cross-bars 30 on the arms 25 of the machine conveyor, the tops ofthe A-frames on carriages 34b, 34a` lie close to the inner cross-bars 30on the arms.

The carriages 34a, 34b `act as a loader for the machine conveyor, whilethe carriages 34a, 34d serve as an unloader for that conveyor. When thecarriages have come to rest ladjacent the machine conveyor in thepositions described, the motor 40 on each carriage is started bysuitable means, such as a limit switch lactuated by the movement of thecarriage. The motors on carriages 34a, 34b operate to cause the discs 54on those carriages to rotate counter-clockwise, as seen in the diagram,Fig. 6, while the motors on carriages 34C, 34d cause the discs on thosecarriages to rotate clockwise. During the travel of the carriages fromthe plant conveyor toward the machine conveyor, the discs 54 on all thecarriages have been at rest with the pins 55 at bottom dead centerthereon. The pins on the discs on carriages 34a, 34b have supportedarticle carriers with the outward extensions 19C Of the heele nath@Qarriersrestiagnntlle Pins, While the pins on carriages A34e and 64dHhavebeen inactive. Whenr they carriagescometo.restrat: thand f theirPaths of travel .toward `the .machine conveyor, the .counterclockwise.rotation of discs l 4 on ,carriages 354g, `3 .4b causes the .-.articlecarriers .on thosecafriages t0 5be.` raised by the pins 55 and, .whenthe .pins have moved ,through about 270, the forward. ends .19.bofthe-ihooks :19 ofthe carriers engage the ends of the cross-bars 30 onadjacent arms 25 of the machine conveyor. As the rotation of discs 54continues, the carriers remain suspended on the cross-bars and the discscome to rest with their pins at bottom dead center. When the discs 54 oncarriages 34e and 34d are moved clockwise, the pins 55 thereon engagethe outward extensions 19e of carriers suspended on cross-bars 30 onadjacent arms 25 `of the machine conveyor and, as the pins continuetheir movement, they raise the carriers free of the cross-bars andfinally come to rest at bottom dead center with the carriers suspendedtherefrom.

When carriers of raw work have been transferred, as described, fromcarriages 34a, 34h to outer and inner cross-bars 30 on adjacent arms ofthe plant conveyor and carriages 34C, 34d have removed carriers ofprocessed `articles from inner and outer cross-bars on adjacent arms 25,the motor 66 is started and the carriages start to move toward the plantconveyor. While this movement is taking place, the elevator of theplating machine rises to raise the arms 25 thereon, the conveyoradvances one step with the `arms raised, and the arms are then loweredby the elevator.

When the carriages come to rest at their respective 4stations on theplant conveyor, the motors 40 on the empty carriages 34a, 34h arestarted to cause the discs 54 thereon to move counter-clockwise and, insuch movement, the pins 55 on the discs engage the outward extensions onthe hooks 19 of carriers loaded with raw work, which are suspended fromtrolleys on the plant conveyor in line with the carriages, and removethe carriers from the trolleys. The discs come to rest with their pinsat bottom dead center with the carriers of raw work suspended therefrom.During the rotation of the discs 54 on carriages 34a, 34b, the discs 54on the loaded carriages 34C, 34d move clockwise. In such movement of thediscs, the tails 19a of the hooks of the carriers supported on the pins55 on the discs engage the end sections 18a of frames 18 on respectivetrolleys 15 on the plant conveyor. The carriers are thus transferred tothe plant conveyor and the discs 54 continue their movement until theirpins 55 are at bottom dead center. Upon the completion of the movementof the discs on the Ifour carriages, as described, carriages 34a and 34bhave taken carriers of raw work from the plant conveyor and carriages34a` and 34d have transferred carriers of processed articles to theplant conveyor.

During the movement of the carriages toward the plant conveyor, themachine conveyor has advanced one step, so tlrat the arm 25, which wasopposite carriage 34h and received a carrier of raw work on its innercross-bar in the preceding transfer cycle, now lies opposite carriage34a with its outer cross-bar empty. The arm 25, which was previouslyopposite carriage 34e yand is now empty at both cross-bars, is inalignment with carriage 34h, while the arm 25 previously in line withcarriage 34d and having a full inner cross-bar and an empty outer one is:in alignment with carriage 34C. The arm 25 previously in line withcarriage 34a and n-ow loaded with carriers of raw work on both inner andouter cross-bars has moved away from the loader-unloader, while an arm25 loaded with carriers of processed articles on both its cross-bars hasmoved into line with carriage 34d.

When the machine conveyor has advanced a step, as described, thecarriages start to move away from the plant conveyor with carriages 34a,34h loaded with raw Y i nqrkandsarriages `221,16 met .lhalranstersrsleis new Y.0f.11i 1 f.. n. .is` epeatedthtasha. dieser*attenofttheplatinamashiae The operation of the transfer mechanismmaymbecontralled.; by any .ofthe-hammams...anchas.,Limitswitehes tedhyawringfis. amenacrhaalu h b .ke

ing ,4.2 .areernrlcred t0 that @discs :5,4 onM the carriages will beystopped at exact locationspnd with controllable deceleration varyingwith different weights of work loads in order to avoid objectionableswinging of the article carriers. Similarly, the use of the devices 41permits controllable torque to be applied to the shafts 48 carryingdiscs 54, so that the proper torque may be employed to start the workloads gently and reduce the pendulum effect, regardless of the weight ofthe loads. For the same reasons, it is desirable to cause the motor 66to drive the carriages through a speed reducer and clutch-brake deviceinterposed between the motor and shaft 60.

I claim:

1. A transfer mechanism for transferring article carriers between aconveyor advancing pairs of carriers in inner and outer files and asecond conveyor advancing the carriers in single tile, the conveyorsmoving stepwise in timed relation in opposite directions and havingstations substantially in alignment, which comprises at least one pairof tracks between adjacent stations on one c0nveyor and correspondingstations on the other, the tracks being of unequal length and extendingfrom points equally spaced from stations on the single file conveyor topoints equally spaced, respectively, from carriers in the inner andouter les on the second conveyor at stations of said second conveyor, apair of carriages movable along respective tracks, means forreciprocating the carriages simultaneously and in the same directionsalong their tracks with the carriages traversing their respective tracksin the same time interval, and means on each carriage operable to removea carrier from one conveyor, support the carrier during movement of thecarriage, and deposit the carrier upon the other conveyor.

2. The transfer mechanism of claim 1, which includes a second pair oftracks between adjacent stations on one conveyor and correspondingstations on the other, the inner tracks being longer than the outertracks and extending between the single le conveyor and the inner tileon the double file conveyor, while the outer tracks extend between thesingle le conveyor and the outer le on the double tile conveyor,carriages movable on the second pair of tracks, means on each of thecarriages ,on the second pair of tracks for removing a carrier from oneconveyor, supporting the carrier during movement of the carriage, anddepositing the carrier on the other conveyor, and means forreciprocating the carriages on the second pair of tracks simultaneouslywith and in the same directions as the carriages on the rst pair oftracks, the carriages all traversing their respective paths in the sametime interval.

3. The transfer mechanism of claim l, in which the removing7 supporting,and depositing means are driven by a motor through a clutch-brake devicecontrollable as to its torque output. Y

4. The transfer mechanism of claim l, in which each carriage includes abase structure mounted to move on a track and having standards risingfrom the base and spaced to receive a carrier between them, and themeans for removing a carrier from one conveyor, supporting the carrier,and depositing the carriage on the second conveyor are mounted on thestandards near the upper ends thereof.

5. The transfer mechanism of claim 4, in which the removing, supporting,and depositing means include coax# ial shafts mounted on the respectivestandards and eccentric pins mounted on and parallel to the shafts andsaid means are operated by a motor on the carriage.

aes-2eme 6. The transfer mechanism of claim 1, in which the carriagesare connected to chains trained about sprocket wheels of different sizeon a shaft mounted in fixed bearings adjacent the single file conveyorand the shaft is driven by a motor.

7. The transfer mechanism of claim 6, in which the tracks are mounted ona base and shafts are mounted `at opposite ends of the base and carrysprocket wheels, about which the chains connected to the carriages aretrained.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Woods etal May 10, 1898 Hastings, Jr. Feb. 2, 1943 Davis June 15, 1954 SchreckDec. 4, 1956 Lang Sept. 17, 1957 Hauck Sept. 24, 1957

